Limerick students have welcomed a change in what one has claimed to be the “worst run bus route” in the country.
Bus Éireann have been announced to take over as the new route operator of the 310 bus service, which connects Annacotty to Limerick City.
The new service which was previously operated by Dublin Coach is scheduled to start on April 20, following an announcement by the National Transport Authority confirming the upcoming development.
Limerick’s public transport system has been a longstanding cause for concern among students, with many finding issues with the 310 service.
Biomedical Engineering student Luke White only travels by bus on occasion but feels more students would utilise the service if it were improved.
The 20-year-old uses the 310 bus service to avoid city traffic and describes it as “the worst run bus service locally, potentially nationally”.
He continued: “It rarely comes on time. Learning that (Dublin Coach) is being taken over by Bus Éireann, who generally run a great service, is good to hear.”
Kaden Foley and Dawid Mazur use the local buses daily to travel to and from the university. When recounting their experiences, the primary issues raised were the lack of reliability and bus maintenance.
David shared: “I think the improvement is definitely needed. When I went on the 310 today, all the seats were torn up- it’s hard to find a decent one. It’s not a comfortable experience”
Kaden added: “I use the buses every day; it’s how I got here this morning. Public transport is definitely handy, except for being late all the time. The 310 never shows up on the digital schedule at the bus stops, so you don’t know when it will arrive”
First-year Journalism and Digital Communication student River McGann also finds the maintenance of the buses serving the route to be highly unsatisfactory.
“It’s not a great bus, Its pretty old. I take the city centre bus rather than the Annacotty bus. So, it’s that big red London bus – it’s dirty, it’s old, it’s loud”
The 19-year-old uses the bus two to three times per week, and reports that it is commonly late when arriving at the bus stops.